Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday left Japan for France, where he is set to attend "two plus two" talks involving the countries' foreign and defense ministers in which they are likely to discuss China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
After France, Kishida will travel to the Czech Republic to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations this year, and then to Ireland for a ceremony to celebrate the 60th year of the establishment of Tokyo's diplomatic ties with Dublin, also in 2017.
In France on Saturday, he will join Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian for the two-plus-two meeting, the third of its kind between the countries, to discuss China's military buildup in the South China Sea and its rising presence in the East China Sea.